The Archetypal Tarot Podcast

What if death could teach you how to live more fully? What if the tiger on your card today is nudging you to stop accepting less than you’re worth? This week on the Archetypal Tarot podcast, host Cyndera Quackenbush welcomes back the brilliant Cat Pierce, creator of The Wandering Star Tarot, to unveil her brand-new deck, The Omen Oracle. Cat reveals why an “omen” isn’t something to fear, but a gentle nudge from the universe, and what it was like to leave the structure of tarot behind and chart her own path. Step inside the deck’s four enchanting realms: The Animals: Cyndera pulls the Tiger and finds a little fierceness she didn’t know she needed. Discover how animals follow their instincts without second-guessing, and how we can borrow their power. The Plants: Chamomile, mint, roses: Cat explains why plants are quiet teachers, and how a cup of tea can become a meditation. The Archetypes: Meet the Death Whisperer, the card Cat placed first on purpose, and the Shadow Keeper, who invites you to embrace the parts of yourself you’ve been hiding. Hint: that’s where your power lives. Visio Divina: An ancient practice of gazing into the eyes of a figure in art, and what might gaze back. Cat Pierce is a singer, songwriter, painter, self-proclaimed psychonaut, and spiritual evolution enthusiast. Raised in Alabama by hippie parents who instilled in her a deep love for all things creative, she is best known for her music as one half of the sister band The Pierces, and has toured the world with Coldplay, Lissie, Adam Green, and Albert Hammond Jr. She has also performed with Emmylou Harris and Elton John. Her work has earned two top ten albums in England, one of which reached Gold status. A gifted visual artist as well, Cat created the artwork for Thirteen Tales of Love & Revenge, The Pierces’ cult-hit record. Her love of drawing, writing, and spiritual development inspired her first tarot deck, The Wandering Star Tarot. In 2022, she turned her creative eye to a new venture, launching OMEN, a non-toxic beauty line. In 2026, she released her second deck, The Omen Oracle, a collection of animal, plant, archetype, and Visio Divina cards that invites readers to find guidance in the signs around them.

In this episode of the Archetypal Tarot Podcast, Cyndera interviews Cherry Parra, author of The Left Hand Path of Tarot, for a provocative and soulful conversation about tarot as a tool of radical self-knowledge, creative defiance, and spiritual sovereignty. Cherry reclaims the “left-hand path” from cliché and controversy, redefining it not as rebellion for rebellion’s sake, but as the path of the outsider, the adversary, the visionary. Moving beyond traditional witchcraft and pagan frameworks, she shares how her solitary, closed practice centers empowerment, personal experience, and the courage to explore what lies beyond sanctioned spirituality. Together, Cyndera and Cherry explore: Tarot as a living storytelling device—an oracle of layered metaphor and myth The power of “intuitive glimmers,” those suspended moments when insight strikes like lightning Artists and visionaries as sacred outsiders who challenge, reshape, and reimagine culture Healing not as erasure of wounds, but as transformation How tarot helps us navigate chaotic times by focusing on what is ours to tend, here and now The conversation also weaves through the concept of duende, drawn from the work of Federico García Lorca. Duende is a dark, electric current of artistic presence that can turn a reading into revelation. Grounded, fierce, and deeply reflective, this episode is an invitation to embrace your edges, honor your difference, and claim your agency through the cards. Cherry Parra is a Mexican left-hand path witch residing in Mexico. She majored in Hispanic literature and has an innate and inherited connection to occult practices. Parra’s magic stems from a matriarchal lineage of healers: her great-grandmother was a witch, a curandera (traditional folk healer) from Oaxaca in southern Mexico, who people in the community would turn to when they needed healing in matters of the body and spirit. Cherry’s life mission is to shine a light on the uncomfortable truths most people like to ignore. The shadows are her second home and greatest teachers. Cherry lives and maintains a closed spiritual practice in Mexico from where she reads tarot for a select international clientele that includes artists, creatives, and visionaries.

On this spellbinding episode of the Archetypal Tarot Podcast, host Cyndera Quackenbush sits down with author and professor Enid Baxter Ryce for a mesmerizing journey through the hidden history of magic, language, and humanity itself. Together, they explore Enid’s captivating new book, Ancient Spells and Incantations: Echoes of Magic Through the Ages and Across Cultures, a collection of ancient blessings, curses, healing charms, and spoken rituals gathered from manuscripts spanning centuries and civilizations. From Roman curse tablets to sacred healing prayers, from incantation bowls used to trap spirits to the secret preservation of indigenous magical practices by the very people who sought to erase them, this conversation reveals how deeply human our longing for protection, love, healing, and transformation has always been. Enid and Cyndera dive into the magical power of words themselves: why poetry, prayer, storytelling, and even cursive writing have long been intertwined with spellcraft. They discuss the emotional resonance of ancient incantations, the art of translation across time and culture, and the enduring mystery of words like “abracadabra,” whose origins may point toward the profound idea that we create reality through speech. The episode also touches on tarot, visual symbolism, herbal wisdom, mysticism, language, and the strange beauty of discovering that people thousands of years ago struggled with the same heartbreaks, envies, hopes, and desires we do today. Thought provoking, poetic, and deeply enchanting, this interview is an invitation to remember that magic has always lived in the stories we tell, the words we speak, and the meanings we weave into the world. Enid Baxter Ryce is a writer, artist, and filmmaker who has exhibited at museums internationally, including the National Gallery of Art, the Getty, and the Arnolfini. A descendant of three Salem witches, she comes from a long family history of natural magic practice. Enid has an MFA in visual arts and studied at Cooper Union, Yale University, and Claremont Graduate University. She won the Elizabeth Kray Prize from the Society for American Poets when she graduated from Cooper Union. Enid is currently working on the Getty Foundation Art x Science Initiative project “From the Ground Up: Nurturing Diversity in Hostile Environments,” a forward-looking ethnobotanical study undertaken as the basis of a forthcoming exhibition and an accompanying publication at Armory Center for the Arts. She is the community engagement director and a curator for the Philip Glass Center for Art, Science, and the Environment. Her latest film, War and the Weather, featuring the music of Philip Glass, premiered at the National Gallery of Art Theater in Washington, DC. Enid’s work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Artforum, ArtReview, the Los Angeles Times, and many other publications.

Host Cyndera Quackenbush welcomes author and tarot scholar Mariana Louis for a profound exploration of tarot, Jungian psychology, archetypes, synchronicity, and the lifelong journey of self-discovery. Centered around Mariana’s book, Tarot and the Psychology of the Soul: Exploring the Archetypal Mirrors of the Psyche, the conversation dives into the ways tarot can function not simply as divination but as a mirror to encounter the deepest layers of the self. Mariana shares her unexpected path from aspiring musical theater performer to scholar of Western intellectual traditions after discovering Carl Jung’s The Undiscovered Self in her grandfather’s attic. Soon after, a transformative tarot reading revealed to her the uncanny overlap between Jungian archetypes and the symbolic language of tarot, setting her on a years-long quest to understand how these systems intersect and how they can be used as tools for personal transformation. Together, Cyndera and Mariana explore some of the most fascinating ideas in Jungian thought, including individuation, synchronicity, the collective unconscious, projection, the shadow, anima and animus, and the mysterious “psychoid” realm where psyche and matter appear to meaningfully intertwine. Rather than treating tarot as a rigid fortune-telling device, Mariana presents it as an invitation into dialogue with the unconscious. Warm, thoughtful, and deeply inspiring, this episode is a celebration of tarot as a tool for soul-making. Whether you are new to Jungian concepts or a longtime tarot practitioner seeking greater depth, this conversation bridges intellect and intuition, mystery and meaning, psychology and spirit. Mariana Louis is a contemporary tarot scholar, teacher, and author known for her work exploring the psycho-spiritual and Jungian dimensions of tarot. A former musical theater performer, she now teaches tarot through the lens of archetypes, depth psychology, and individuation, and serves as faculty at the Jung Archademy. Through her platform Persephone’s Sister, her writing, and the podcast Soror Mystica, Mariana has guided countless students in tarot, shadow work, witchcraft, and the archetypal Feminine. Based in Queens, she lives with her husband, two cats, and an ever-growing collection of books.

In this deeply affirming episode of the Archetypal Tarot Podcast, two Geminis (Alethea Crimmins and Cyndera Quackenbush) have a conversation that begins with a simple correction of pronunciation and unfolds into a profound exploration of boundaries, self-worth, identity, and healing. Alethea shares the heart behind her wildly uplifting affirmation deck, Have a Good Day on Purpose, a collection of bold, humorous, and emotionally resonant cards designed not just to inspire, but to help people truly receive kindness and encouragement for themselves. Together, Cyndera and Alethea explore the tension between humility and self-love, the struggles of people-pleasing, mom guilt, chronic overthinking, and the lifelong challenge of choosing oneself without shame. Alethea opens up candidly about living with depression, bipolar disorder, and ADHD, revealing how the deck was born from her own need for compassion and support during difficult times. Rather than waiting for someone else to become her cheerleader, she became that voice for herself and then for thousands of others. The conversation dives into why affirmations often fail to “stick,” and how Alethea’s unique format (pairing empowering declarations with deeply personal, conversational pep talks) creates a bridge between the mind and the heart. Filled with laughter, emotional honesty, and unforgettable one-liners, this episode is both a soul-level conversation and a reminder that self-worth is not something granted by others, but something we learn to claim for ourselves.